May 02, 2006

"Music fans are not the enemy" , says artists' coalition. A coalition of top Canadian musicians and the group that oversees Canada's recording industry sent out opposing messages Monday about the development of new copyright laws.
posted by rocket88 18 years ago
  • Well, they sure are my enemy. Have you heard the shit they listen to? Jesus! But well done Canadian artists.
  • Canadian artists should be applauded for keeping their sound both parochial and far away from 'here'.
  • "It's not the band I hate, it's their fans" -Sloan, Coax Me A wee dram of irony?
  • A side-related note: Napster.com is back and it's free music once again! Except that is, if you're in Canada. In which case not. Also Pandora.com, more free music but only available to those with an American zippy code. Or those non-Americans who, uh, "live" in 90210.
  • This makes a lot of sense, and I'm saying that as someone who has finally started buying music again after years with no purchases. (Yes, I did start buying music after discovering new artists by downloading, why do you ask?) For artists, downloading is a grey area (some artists have found it makes them more sales, by acting as advertising, but others have lost money), but copy protection? That's like regions on DVDS, it just makes it more difficult for people to use legitimately purchased music and, like regions on DVDs, it just makes it necessary to pirate. I don't have a CD player, I only play on computer or an MP3 player. I wouldn't knowingly buy a CD with copy protection, but if I couldn't rip it, I would just go and download it. And probably be so angry I had to that I would never buy anything from that artist again. (Yes, I know it's the label's fault, so I should look never to buy from the label again).
  • The most important aspect of this artists' coalition is that it exposes the lie that the recording industry lobbyists are representing the interests of the artists. This has never been the case.